bimmerluuvr

Gday gents. Any and all with knowledge PLEASE sing out, I'm looking for input on this: 06' 530, no ski pass thru, I'm considering a Rockford Fosgate Punch overload PS300-12 powered sub for my trunk. Three questions concerning this:
1)Without the ski pass through, will I still get full bass penetration into the passenger cabin?

2)With the power that this thing utilizes, am I going to have to worry about excessive drain on my cars electrical system, that might result in malfunctions?

3)Is hooking up the sub as simple as tapping into the under-the-seat subs signal wires (standard BMW system) and connecting to the positive battery terminal for power, and grounding to the cars body? Is that all there is to it?

Thanks folks.

Victory

I just posted a topic around my own stereo upgrade, so I'll give you my experiences. I also don't have a ski port.

1) Bass is omni-directional so you will get some penetration of the "feeling" of bass, but the bass notes themselves will be a little muddy. A better combo is to upgrade the under seat subs AND add a sub box. If you decide to only go with a sub box, the bigger the better. While tuning my system, I tested my install for a couple of days with 2 Rockford 12" with 600w going into them and it was enough for me to feel the bass in the cabin (with the underseat subs off).

2) Anything might result in "malfunctions", but with a properly installed system you should not have any problems.

3) See my recent post and the BMW e90 sub upgrade DIY for more specific info, but with the right equipment (an amp with speaker level inputs or a Line Output converter) you can hook it up as you are thinking. You can pull the sub signal (in fact all signals) from the trunk space.

I hope this helps

Victory

bens1088

1. I am running a 12" P3 with a 600 watt mono alpine amp (pretty powerful). I also don't have the ski pass. What I have found out is that the bass won't feel too loud from the front seats but if you are sitting in the back, they can't even hear the music. I am going to get a slim sub to get less bASSSSSSS and more thump. If you are running a decent amp, you are going to worry about having too much bass.

2. I put on a decent sized farad capacitor which should prevent any problems when the bass hits hard.

3. Yes. The issue you might have is that you cannot control your sub from the front seat. Get an amp that allows for a bass remote control that you can run to the front seat.

bimmerluuvr

So in your opinion 600w should be enough to add a little punch, but not over tax my alternator?

Victory

Depending on the subs, and box size/design 600w should be plenty IMO.

bimmerluuvr

If I tap the new sub into one of the under seat subs where they plug into the oem amp, the low frequency signal should go to both, creating the desired effect from ALL the cars speakers, yes? I'd like to avoid replacing the under seat subs.
To sum it up, I want to take the easiest, safest, most effective way out. All I want to do if possible is add the powered sub box and any NECESSARY additional equipment: cap. harness, etc.

Victory

Yes, you can tap the left/right OUTPUT wires of the sub amp in the trunk to get the low pass speaker signal you want.

bens1088

600W is plenty. I have a 12" p3 ported. I am actually going to switch to a 10" type R or a slim p3

bimmerluuvr

Don't want to be a PITA, but do you happen to have any pics of the stock amp sub outputs?

bimmerluuvr

Any chance 600 is TOO much? don't want to over tax my alternator.